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I wish death to anyone who is upper class in this state and thinks its ok to rape the Low or Middle by raising fares on Transit , Raising Taxes , Raising anything , while they get away with lower taxes and can afford everything.

No one wants to pay high taxes or high fees for transit, and everyone would like to pretend that their programs don't require any funding, but let's get this straight -- the cause of high taxes is high spending. So perhaps you should wish "death" to the advocates of policy that requires more spending, because whether or not they admit to it, these people do think it's OK to raise taxes to fund their agenda.

shorebaby- I heard the author of the study interviewed. He stated the media was distorting what he wrote.

There were several different studies quoted in the article. They all reached the same conclusion. Again it doesn't matter if the wealth that is leaving is from retired people or not. It is tax policy that is driving them out. Increasing taxes will accelerate the problem.

There were several different studies quoted in the article. They all reached the same conclusion. Again it doesn't matter if the wealth that is leaving is from retired people or not. It is tax policy that is driving them out. Increasing taxes will accelerate the problem.

Exactly...my husband has already informed me like it or not when he retires we are out of here

There were several different studies quoted in the article. They all reached the same conclusion. Again it doesn't matter if the wealth that is leaving is from retired people or not. It is tax policy that is driving them out. Increasing taxes will accelerate the problem.

Do you realize that the current mess goes back to Christie Whitman's tax cut that primarily benefitted the filthy rich. That resulted in a budget shortfall & she got the law changed to use the pension money to plug the hole & that's when the property taxes shot up. No governor has gotten her tax cut to the wealthy permanently repealed & they have continually used the pension money to plug the hole. That brings you to the current mess that is driving everyone who can out of the state.

Now you have Chris Christie setting up a scenario where teachers will be forced to retire early & they are entitled to the pensions which they have paid into. The only question is how long before the NJ pension fund goes broke.

The same goes for government workers.

By the way, the teachers originally had a separate pension fund & so did a lot of the government workers, but the state forced them to merge into the state fund for which they have misappropriated the money, to plug Christie Whitman's budget gap.

Do you realize that the current mess goes back to Christie Whitman's tax cut that primarily benefitted the filthy rich. That resulted in a budget shortfall & she got the law changed to use the pension money to plug the hole & that's when the property taxes shot up. No governor has gotten her tax cut to the wealthy permanently repealed & they have continually used the pension money to plug the hole. That brings you to the current mess that is driving everyone who can out of the state.

Now you have Chris Christie setting up a scenario where teachers will be forced to retire early & they are entitled to the pensions which they have paid into. The only question is how long before the NJ pension fund goes broke.

The same goes for government workers.

By the way, the teachers originally had a separate pension fund & so did a lot of the government workers, but the state forced them to merge into the state fund for which they have misappropriated the money, to plug Christie Whitman's budget gap.

You are kidding right? New Jersey is one of the highest taxed states in the country. Tax rates so high that high net worth families are leaving the state.

NJ doesn't have a tax problem it has a spending problem.

No one is suggesting teachers should not get their pensions. That is a straw man argument

Do you realize that the current mess goes back to Christie Whitman's tax cut that primarily benefitted the filthy rich. That resulted in a budget shortfall & she got the law changed to use the pension money to plug the hole & that's when the property taxes shot up. No governor has gotten her tax cut to the wealthy permanently repealed & they have continually used the pension money to plug the hole. That brings you to the current mess that is driving everyone who can out of the state.

Now you have Chris Christie setting up a scenario where teachers will be forced to retire early & they are entitled to the pensions which they have paid into. The only question is how long before the NJ pension fund goes broke.

The same goes for government workers.

By the way, the teachers originally had a separate pension fund & so did a lot of the government workers, but the state forced them to merge into the state fund for which they have misappropriated the money, to plug Christie Whitman's budget gap.

What really "frosted" me was that Christie Whitman lived on an estate that was classified as a "farm". She grew hay for her brother's horses (how thoughful of her!) Farm land is taxed on pennies on the dollar compared to residential property. So she ended up paying less taxes on her "estate/farm" with a huge house, compared to my dumpy little Cape Cod on 1/10th of an acre in Paterson. The first year her state income tax decrease went into effect, my property taxes jumped from $2600 to over $4000!!! She saved her high-income friends a veritable fortune, while the rest of us middle-class taxpayers got the shaft!

sb_295 - The pension system in NJ will never go broke as long as it's backed by the taxpayers of NJ (Who says you can't get blood from a stone?).

Christie said Tuesday that the wage freeze and a contribution of 1.5 percent of salary toward health insurance costs would save taxpayers $800 million and nearly make up for all the cuts in school aid in the state budget proposed last week.
"I'm going to take them at their word that it's all about the kids," Christie said in comments to the Asbury Park Press editorial board in Neptune. ''Well, if it's all about the children, then step up to the plate."
Christie noted that for a teacher earning $50,000, the health care contribution would amount to $750 for full medical, dental and vision coverage for a year.
"That's $2 a day," Christie said. "Most people spend more on coffee in a day."
-------------------------
I can tell you most people in the public sector pay more than 750 dollars a yr for health insurance. If this is true, skipping a raise and pay 1.5% toward benefits to avoid all of this.......why is it not being considered by the unions?

Of course Whitman thinks it is a good idea. Lets redirect it to the teacher to fix the mess she made. So we can not blame her. Someone said above about her property assesment being farm. Let's stop doing that. Where I live we have tons of farms that don't do anything. In fact when I bought my property the real estate agent encouraged me to buy the adjoining property because then I would have enough to be farmland assesed. All I would have to do is say I sold the veggies I grow to my sister have my sister give me a check at that time it was $500 and I would get a reduction in taxes. Wonder if that would makeup for the school budget cuts. I can't just writing that why are people so mad at teachers who are middle class who yes may have it better than many in the private sector but they teach our children. Instead this rich woman who has more money then she can ever spend gets a tax break. Or public workers who have great jobs collect a pension of$70,000 and stay on the job making another $100,000. Why aren't we complaining about that. Or how about if Christie isn't living in the govenors mansion he should pay for his own transportation to work.

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